The Beauty of Dawn: Nightfall
by Dragonborn Legend
Summary: Book One of The Beauty of Dawn triology. Expansion of Dawnguard storyline. Three years after Alduin's fall, vampire attacks within the walls of major cities have become rampant. As the Dragonborn investigates, he finds that there is much more to it. A plan that could throw the entire world out of balance and into a never-ending blanket of darkness.


_**Chapter One: Covenant**_

_Tirdas, 9:24 P.M, 10__th__ of Sun's Dusk, 4E 204._

Cities across Skyrim roared in bustling activity as the sons and daughters of Skyrim celebrated in every way known to both man and mer. Brawls, drinking contests, music, dancing, you name it. Even though the holiday was a new annual, it is easily one of the most, if not the most, celebrated holiday in the Fourth Era.

Tonight marked the third anniversary of the Day of Heroes.

That's what the people of Skyrim were calling it anyway. The day would begin with a ceremony at noon in Solitude at the Temple of the Divines that would involve the citizens of Skyrim placing various items ranging from simple offering such as septims, food, and drinks to more elaborate and sentimental things like an amulet of one of the Nine Divines or bouquets of flowers. The purpose of the holiday was to celebrate and pay respect to all heroes, both old and new, who have sacrificed much to better the lives of their people.

Putting it lightly, everyone took to the holiday with much zeal.

Though on this night, three people took to the shadows to meet in secret. One man's jet black robes blended into the darkness of night as they moved swiftly and quietly through the crowds of people in the streets of Solitude. The posts on the buildings hoisted red and gold banners, featuring two dragons mirroring each other with a downward arrow running between the two.

The symbol of the Dragonborn.

The Dragonborn. The reason why the Day of Heroes existed in the first place. His victory over Alduin gave way to the implementation of the holiday. His story of the titanic battle in Sovngarde and involvement of the Ancient Tongues spread across Skyrim fast. By the time all of Skyrim knew about it, the epic was known to all other provinces of Tamriel, thus gave birth to the continent wide holiday know as the Day of Heroes.

The Dragonborn. The Harbinger of the Companions, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, Thane of all nine holds, Legate of the Imperial Legion, and above all else, a hero in every sense of the word.

A single pair of crimson red eyes glanced up towards one of the banners as he passed by and scowled in disgust.

_Hero… no. Not a hero. Murderer._

He turned his attention back towards his destination, the Winking Skeever. Two nights, one of his weaker subordinates brought him a message, with only a single yet cryptic sentence.

_Winking Skeever. Solitude. Tenth day of Sun's Dusk._

The message caught his attention. Normally, he would send one of his lackeys in his place, in hopes of not seeing a return trip. He did not view his subordinates in the ways most leaders, good or evil, would. In all honestly, he could care less. He viewed them as time-savers, people who could do his errands that were too petty for him to do.

This letter was an exception. The letter was signed in cryptic initials, presumably the sender's.

_MB._

It was enough to grab his attention and perk his interest, hence his presence in Solitude on this night. As he neared the inn, he felt an icy hand grasp his shoulder with a firm grip and with that, his vision changed. Before he could realize what was happening, his vision warped and his body went limp. After what felt like minutes in a limbo-like state, his vision returned and the numbness of his body faded away.

As he began to regain his bearing, it became clear to him that he was no longer in Solitude. Once his vision was restored enough to see, he observed his surroundings. Dark and withered stone walls made the foundation for the cathedral-like area. Two staircases flanked the room that lead up to a balcony that overlooked the rest of the room. Strangely, despite the dank appearance of the room, there was no immediate smell that filled his scent that suggested that dark events took place here, but he knew otherwise. The atmosphere of the room gave it away.

But not nearly as much as the demonic shrine.

He grimaced at the sight of crimson blood flowing from the mouth of the head that served as the centerpiece of the altar. The head itself was as terrifying as it was awe-inspiring. The prongs that protruded out of each cheek added to the intimidation of the altar itself. His stare was interrupted by other presences in the room.

"Where in Oblivion am I?"

The man spun around to see a young girl on his right flank, dressed in a red dress, only about four feet and seven inches tall with hair just passing her delicate shoulders. While her guise was very convincing of the innocent and petite girl act, he knew better than that. Her blood red eyes, identical to his, told him all he needed to know of this little girl.

Another figured stood to his left, and, much like him and the small girl, possessed the same red eyes as themselves. He appeared middle-aged, but his body build was that of a massive brute who experienced plenty of war and death. His hair, or lack of, was a deep brown hue, accompanied by graying sideburns that clashed with the rest of his mane. The only presence of armor on the brute was his fur trousers and boots and hide bracers, fully exposing his ripped physique.

An unfamiliar battleaxe rested upon his back. The handle was wrapped in crude leather with pieces of fabric sticking out of the gaps between the leather. The blade itself was nothing like he had ever seen. Although the edge was diminished from a multitude of conflicts, the engraving of two beasts on each side of the double-sided axe was magnificently crafted. Despite the damage to the edge, the battleaxe was truly a masterful, yet terrifying weapon.

Before he could interrogate them for answers, a masculine, yet cold voice spoke to them, though seemingly disembodied.

"Welcome, brothers and sisters. Thank you for coming. I assume that since you are here, you all have received my letter?"

The brute was the first to engage in conversation with the voice.

"Yes, now show your face, coward! You've interrupted my playtime, and I don't like being interrupted, _especially _during playtime," the man snarled. His voice was even deeper than the disembodied voice, though not nearly as calm and collected as him.

"There will be plenty of time for that later, I assure you, Ganthor. Please settle down," the voice responded, almost commanded. His voice, ever calm, radiated his authority amongst the three and reassured his control.

The brute, Ganthor, silenced his savage howling, but never visibly relaxed and kept his guard up, just in case.

_At least he's smart enough to realize that this man is _not _to be trifled with. He undoubtedly strong, but in what ways…? _

"I called you three here today because you, above all others of our kind, have endured unbearable hardships and challenges that have threatened to destroy you since you have become what you are today. You have been forced to live in rotten caves and feast upon the animals that resided with you. You were rejected and exiled from society by the ones who once accepted you and took you in. All because of something you could not control.

"It is an injustice to our kind that shall not go unpunished. Ever since the beginning of our people, we have been weakened and ultimately degraded by the sun of Nirn. I say no longer. We will end the Tyranny of the Sun and bring forth a never-ending darkness that the likes of mortals have never witnessed before. And once the darkness is in place, we will bring the mortals to their knees and force them to beg for mercy as we bring down eras of hatred and pain on top of their heads. Ganthor. Babette. Vylthur. Join my covenant and we will ascertain our domination over all mortals."

Ganthor, Babette, and Vylthur glanced at one another, contemplating the offer. They had all been victims of unimaginable punishment by the likes of mortals, each of their stories fueling their hatred and anger towards the mortals. The choice was an easy one.

Vylthur stepped up to speak for the three. "When do we start, but we need to know who exactly is offering?"

"Very well."

A black leather boot stepped from behind the shrine and into the beam of light, followed by another. The way the man walked clearly showed off his high upbringing, undeniable royalty, and his current attire only complemented his bearing. Red and black armor was adorned with gold shoulder plates along with deadly gauntlets that graced his hands.

"I am Harkon, leader of the Volkihar covenant and lord of this court. Now, shall we begin?"

_**Author's Note:**_ Hello readers :D! First of I want to say thank you for taking the time to read this prologue chapter to my first fanfiction. I recently got back into Skyrim again and started the Dawnguard storyline and during that playthrough, my mind wandered on what more could be done to make it even better and more epic than the original, so I did some research and found info that I will use to _**EXPAND **_the story. This is pretty much an overhaul of the Dawnguard questline that I came up with and it will be stretched across a trilogy that will be known as _The Beauty of Dawn _trilogy.

The main characters of the story are the Dragonborn (of course) and Serana. There will be eventually romance between the two. I will not rush it, but neither will I wait til the third book to get a kiss or something of the sorts. I will not be writing smut either. Sorry to disappoint you guys but I'm gonna keep it somewhat clean when it comes to that. These books might escalate to an M rating, but it won't be because of sex scenes. Again, I apologize.

I also will not be writing dialogue word-from-word in-game dialogue, so it won't be boring dialogue for you guys.

The Dragonborn in this fanfic is a natural leader definitely, but he won't be the leader of every guild he joins. What I mean by that is if the Dragonborn is the Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild, he won't be the Harbinger of the Companions as well. The guilds need their top leader and obviously, the Dragonborn can't be at every place. They may still be part of that certain faction and definitely in a high-ranking leadership position, but he won't be the main leader. If you don't understand what I'm saying, then you'll understand it next chapter.

With all that out of the way, we can stop this long AN before it gets out of hand. Next chapter: the Dragonborn introduction. Review, follow, favorite. Thank you again :)

-Brad


End file.
